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Anyone use Names.co.uk or 123reg for domain names?

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    Anyone use Names.co.uk or 123reg for domain names?

    If so you may want to check your account for unexpected charges

    Two years ago, 123-Reg and NamesCo decided to register millions of .uk domains for customers without asking them. They just got the auto-renewal bills... • The Register
    "Being nice costs nothing and sometimes gets you extra bacon" - Pondlife.

    #2
    Had the dodgy .uk name 'previously registered for free on my behalf' renewal through for my now dissolved Ltd company domain name, so have just been into 123-reg and set them to not auto-renew, which according to their help section is all that's needed when no longer wanting the domain(s).

    I expect they'll still pester me by email for a while around the renewal dates.

    Also checked that the card details they hold are now expired so I just need to ignore any prospective 'pay now' invoices they send.

    Hopefully that's the end of that. No more dealings with 123-reg.
    Maybe tomorrow, I'll want to settle down. Until tomorrow, I'll just keep moving on.

    Comment


      #3
      I got emails telling me about this from 123 when they created the domains years ago, as a result they have been set not to renew from the day they were created *

      I'll have to dig it out but I'm fairly sure it had details on how to cancel them.

      Is this a problem where 123 didn't tell people or people don't read their emails?

      * Other provider I use called to ask if I wanted them but they're a small IOM based company, nowhere near the size of 123 so I guess it was more practical for them.

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by Snarf View Post
        I got emails telling me about this from 123 when they created the domains years ago, as a result they have been set not to renew from the day they were created *

        I'll have to dig it out but I'm fairly sure it had details on how to cancel them.

        Is this a problem where 123 didn't tell people or people don't read their emails?

        * Other provider I use called to ask if I wanted them but they're a small IOM based company, nowhere near the size of 123 so I guess it was more practical for them.
        It would appear that their default was to add them to your account on auto renew and then send you an email telling you how you could turn if off if you wanted to. Given that a good number of these will have been caught in spam filters etc. there seem to be a number of folks out there who are now getting bills they weren't expecting for domains they didn't ask for and don't use.

        Reg. Article has been updated with the following from the companies involved.

        UPDATE: A spokesperson for NamesCo told us:

        All names.co.uk customers were contacted at the time when corresponding .uk domain names were made available to them for free. We built a simple customer experience that enabled customers to remove free .uk orders from their account before any registrations took place, thus providing them with the opportunity to remove unwanted domain names. We sent multiple communications to customers letting them know we had .uk orders to their account for free, but that they could simply delete these orders before we registered any domains on their behalf.

        "names.co.uk has not set free .uk orders to auto renew," the PR continued. "Customers are therefore fully in control of the payment process and must proactively decide to take action in order to renew these free .uk domains. In addition, names.co.uk has set a specific reduced two-year domain renewal price for these domains, reflecting the fact that Nominet has provided a price incentive."

        Meanwhile, 123-Reg has told The Register this was all just a big misunderstanding. "Customers who thought they were being charged were unfortunately given wrong information, and GoDaddy sent them an email last week to clarify this," the biz explained, setting out an entirely plausible version of events.

        "Our policy remains that if a customer hasn’t explicitly opted-in and activated their .uk domain name, they will not be charged," the 123-Reg spokesperson continued. “If a customer does not want a .UK domain name but has been charged, we would encourage them to get in touch, as they will be refunded. We apologise to customers if they have experienced this issue.”

        Another update
        Round two with 123-Reg: a spokesperson now tells no one was charged for a .uk domain unless they specifically opted into renewing the domain, contrary to an email sent to punters. Also, 123-Reg parent GoDaddy did not send out any messages, we're told, contrary to the above statement: it was purely handled by 123-Reg, the Brit registrar has stressed.

        "Some customers received an erroneous email last week which stated that these domains would be automatically renewed and we would attempt to take payment," the PR told us after we published the above update. "This is not the case and we have contacted customers again to apologize for this confusion and clarify they will not be charged.”

        El Reg will update this story as and when 123-Reg changes its tune again.
        "Being nice costs nothing and sometimes gets you extra bacon" - Pondlife.

        Comment


          #5
          Even if 1% of people miss the notice and auto renew, it's free ££ for these tulip bags. I would have moved my custom elsewhere after a stunt like that even if caught it in time and didn't actually incur charges.

          Comment


            #6
            Only 123 reg domain I've got is xoggoth.org. My small business co.uk site is with another provider fortunately.
            bloggoth

            If everything isn't black and white, I say, 'Why the hell not?'
            John Wayne (My guru, not to be confused with my beloved prophet Jeremy Clarkson)

            Comment


              #7
              Have noticed my renewals are full of .uk's

              Not happy with this.

              On a side note does anyone know good marketplaces these days to sell domains?

              Comment


                #8
                Not just these two firms, I’ve just had renewals for a couple of .uk addresses.

                A throw away site I don’t use I might lapse but the other is for myCo’s address. Although I use the .com I have the .co.uk bagged as well
                Originally posted by Stevie Wonder Boy
                I can't see any way to do it can you please advise?

                I want my account deleted and all of my information removed, I want to invoke my right to be forgotten.

                Comment


                  #9
                  ******* 123-reg.

                  They've autorenewed a mailbox I have set up on a soon to be expired domain for my now dissolved Ltd. No notice of pending renewal just an invoice saying it's been paid.

                  Wouldn't be so bothered (I still check the mailbox for any stuff I've missed when I updated email addresses away from my old Ltd) if it was the usual cost in recent years of around a tenner, but now they want £43 ******* quid. Where's the advance notice of that steep rise in price?

                  A bit perplexed how they've taken payment (invoice says it's been paid) as the card on the account has expired. Will have to keep an eye on my bank account over the next few days to see if payment was successful or if 123 are premature on that.

                  Can't wait to see that back of them. They've gone the way of 1&1 when I used them eons ago, of having a piss poor user interface and insufficient detail in the emails.

                  Not sure who to use for future domain registrations. Any decent companies left?

                  Edit: Have checked bank account and no pending transactions with 123 reg, yet. Have removed the mailbox and set up email forwarding. Should have done that when I set the domain name to not auto-renew.
                  Last edited by Hobosapien; 27 November 2019, 08:32.
                  Maybe tomorrow, I'll want to settle down. Until tomorrow, I'll just keep moving on.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    I also used 123 reg at my previous company, they are a bit scummy company to deal with. Really difficult to get support, there is no way to create multiple different accounts with different permission levels to manage customers, pretty bad.

                    I'm still looking out for better alternatives

                    Comment

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